Archive for the Category »book review «

Aug

Amish Proverbs Gift Book, Giveaway and Contest

Throughout time, the proverbs of a people have given a glimpse into their culture and shared their most intimate beliefs and values, often with great seriousness and occasionally with great levity.

In researching and compiling this book, Suzanne Woods Fisher has given us a good long look into the culture of the Amish people. I felt as if time slowed down as I read through the chapters and enjoyed the proverbs and bits of explanation of Amish Lifestyles. While many of the proverbs were universal, there was a deep understanding that the Amish value time, clarity, restfulness and God.

I felt refreshed after reading through the book. This is a great gift book, with excellent photography, a nice size and the hardback cover.

Enter here to win a copy of Amish Proverbs!

To enter, just leave a comment on my blog sharing a family proverb, or wise family advice, or tradition.

And there is way more going on!

Suzanne’s Amish Proverbs just hit the shelves. To celebrate she’s giving away a KINDLE and throwing a party! Let the fun begin.

Find out more about the book, Suzanne and the blog tour here.

Enter Suzanne Woods Fisher’s Simple Wisdom KINDLE Giveaway

One Grand Prize winner will receive a Kindle preloaded with Suzanne Woods Fisher titles. The Prize Pack (valued at over $205.00) includes:

* A brand new KINDLE, Free 3G, 6″, Latest Generation

* Amish Peace by Suzanne Woods Fisher

* The Choice by Suzanne Woods Fisher

To enter, simply click on the icons below to fill out the entry form, then tell 5 or more friends about the contest.

Oh, and enter soon! Winner will be announced on September 1st.

Join Suzanne for a Wrap-up Party on September 1st!

She’ll be announcing the winner of the Simple Wisdom KINDLE Giveaway, chatting with readers, and giving away copies of Amish Proverbs and The Choice! Be sure to join us on Wednesday , September 1st at 8PM EST.

Be sure to check out the blog tour here or purchase a copy of Amish Proverbs: Words of Wisdom from the Simple Life!

Category: book review Tags: Amish, Folklore, Join Suzanne, Literature, Proverbs and Sayings, Suzanne Woods Fisher, The Simple Life, Words of Wisdom 3 Comments

Aug

Curriculum CleanOut Giveaway

quinnschilling

I have a couple of items for the CleanOut. These are mainly for the older set:) My five year old is hiding everything else! Thanks, Jolanthe, for doing this!

The 2010 Curriculum Cleanout is going on now–If you haven’t stopped by, go check it out! I was looking through our stuff to see what I was willing to part with–because I have only been homeschooling a couple of years, I don’t have too much. BUT, I do have a couple of things!

Web Design for Kids. My Kids loved this DVD. See my review of Web Design for Kids. This made for a fun extracurricular activity. Value: 19.99

Light Speed Math, Geometry Intro. I really like all our Light Speed DVDs. I’d keep this, but my son says he’s done…This one has video and a digital workbook. You can see the item, here. Value: 14.98

Another Math! (Apparently I’m not covetous of my Math Curriculum)

An 8 hr. Video (DVD) Course from Math Tutor DVD.com The Basic Math Word Problem Tutor. You can see more about this, here. Value: 34.99

I liked all of these, but my kids are done with them. If you want to enter, just leave me a comment saying which item or items you are interested in!

For additional entries:

Sign into my reader
sign into my Google Friend Connect
Follow me on Twitter (quinnschilling)
“Like” Faith, Family and Fun on Facebook
Give me an entry into one of your giveaways! (I’m serious! I see so many good giveaways, but I always run out of blogging time. And, I could use a bit of luck. Add an extra entry comment if you add me:)

Category: TOS Crew, book review, curriculum, family time, giveaways, health, homeschooling Tags: curriculum, Curriculum Clean-out, Homeschool, Math, teaching resources 29 Comments

Aug

Not Back-to-School Hop, Kindergarten Curriculum

quinnschilling

Today, I am posting the Kindergarten curriculum for my Sweet Honey. Basically, I will be trying to do a laid back, Charlotte Mason/Classical approach with her. As she is our youngest she has benefitted from having lots of curriculum around. She was doing Mystery of History when she was three…because she liked to listen when her brother was doing his!

For this year, I will mainly be putting things out there and seeing what works for her. Because she is an avid reader and seems pretty driven, we decided to go with the Classical Conversations.

Classical Conversations (CC) We are doing Foundations Cycle 2, which will include: Presidents, Pre-Reformation through Modern, Ecology, Astronomy and Physical Science, Grammar, Latin, Impressionists, Composers, and Bible
Math – Mathletics, Semester 1: work on understanding time and money. Semester 2: Math-U-See.
Science – CC and doing Nutrition 101 Text with older brother
Ancient World History/Geography – CC and Mystery of History Text w/brother, Homeschool in The Woods maps for fun…
Reading – All About Spelling
French–Rosetta Stone, additional videos, texts (we love Bonjour Les Amis!)
Electives – Cooking, lapbooks and unit studies, Ballet or soccer
Reading List— Lots and lots of Great books, many of which will line up with our classical studies!
We are also lucky to be living near Washington, DC, so…I hope we will be taking tons of field trips.

Want to see what our Schoolroom looks like? Check next week’s Not Back-to-School hop!

Join in the fun at the Not Back to School Blog Hop!

Category: book review, curriculum, giveaways, homeschooling Tags: Arts, Classical Conversations, curriculum, education, Homeschool, K through 12, Latin, Mathletics, Rosetta Stone 2 Comments

Aug

The Not Back-to-School Blog Hop, Teen Curriculum

quinnschilling

Image via Wikipedia

I mentioned the Hop the other day, and I am happy to share my curriculum for my kids. I love the order in the photo above. Our homeschool will not look like that, but it will be filled with some wonderful, classic stuff this year…stuff we can read on the couch!!

Today, I am posting the curriculum for Nick. Nick is in High School this year (9th/10th).

Here are my finalized plans for him:

Math – ALEKS online. Semester 1, complete Algebra 1. Semester 2, Geometry
Biology — Apologia Biology through The Potters School, online
Additional Science – Nutrition 101 Text
Ancient World History/Geography — A mixture of Mystery of History Text, Ultimate Geography, Homeschool in The Woods.
Grammar/ Literature — Rod and Staff Text, Illuminations, World Literature and British Literature
Bible — Grapevine Studies (New Testament) and Illuminations (Old Testament)
French–Rosetta Stone, additional videos, texts
Fine Arts–Artistic Pursuits, Music classes
Electives — Computer Technology, Penmanship, Cooking, PE
Reading List—To include: The Greek Way, Prometheus Bound, Oedipus Rex, Julius Caesar, The Canterbury Tales, Beowulf, Ivanhoe, Frankenstein, A Tale of Two Cities.

Join in the fun at the Not Back to School Blog Hop!

Category: book review, curriculum, giveaways, homeschooling Tags: British Literature, curriculum, education, High school, Homeschool, Julius Caesar, Rosetta Stone, World Literature 3 Comments

Jul

Purposeful Reading

quinnschilling

This one will read with me:)

A good blog friend of mine, Annie Kate over at Tea Time with Annie Kate wrote a post today that reminded me of one of the reasons I love reading her blog…because her actions as a homeschool mom–and just as a person–are purposeful, considered and thoughtful.

Why do her posts strike such a chord for me? Well, I think it is that I tend to rush around a bit too much for my own liking, and have trouble sometimes, just sitting down and accomplishing things that I really want to do that take a bit of that sort of consideration and restfulness.

Anyway, today Annie Kate’s post was about keeping a list of books she has read, and participating in a meme that another blog friend, Kristin, over at A Day In The Life, is doing, called 52 Books in 52 weeks.

Not only did I absolutely love the list of read alouds Annie Kate included in her post, but because it is Summer, I was kind of struck by the meme. Hey, I want to do that, my mind just yelled. Which is funny, because I had seen that meme before, and thought Kristin was great for doing it…but I was too busy to really hear or care.

go to the 52 books website...

Now, with Emma’s scare and diagnosis of epilepsy behind me, all the kids school, and whatever else seemed to happen to me–I’m pretty sure I’ve blocked some stuff out–it really has been a horrible year– basically what I now call my “lost Spring,” …now that’s behind me, and the book lover in me wants to read, wants to make a list, wants to sit down with ice tea and lemonade and do a read aloud, for God’s Sake!

There. I feel better. So, deep down, what appeals to me in the 52 Books in 52 Weeks meme is not whether or not I actually read 52 books. It is that I pay attention to an activity I love, and make a record of some of that….and especially that I add some read alouds, read lazily but with purposefulness, to any remaining babies who will sit with mom and listen…

Wish me luck. If you want in, please join up. Take a look at Kristen’s and Annie Kate’s lists. Sit on the couch and read more than just “The Pigeon Wants a Puppy” by Mo Willams (we LOVE that one, but that’s like a warm-up-:)

If you have any ideas for great read alouds, please leave me a comment!

Anyway, this post kind of answers the 52 book question of the week–what makes me want to read a book? I always want to! I just have to make time. And, here’s a link to one of my reviews to get me started: Wholesome and Fun Summer Read For Teens, a review of Trouble With Treasure, by Susan Marlow.

Category: TOS Crew, book review, family time, health Tags: 52 Books In 52 Weeks Meme, book, E-Books, homeschooling, Literature, Pigeon Wants a Puppy, read alouds, reading, Reading Groups, Susan Marlow, Trouble with Treasure 5 Comments

Jun

The Fundamentals of Writing with Jim Baumgardner of Sarah Books

quinnschilling

Last year, I reviewed several books written for tweens. One of my favorites was Sarah’s Wish, by Jim Baumgardner. I loved that his book empowers the teen characters…and doesn’t use cheap tricks, like vampires, for excitement. Just regular life, with some exciting events from history as a backdrop….

An author, history buff and grandfather of homeschoolers with a fun sense of humor, Baumgardner and his writings are an especially good resource for parents of young teens.

Today, Baumgardner is doing some guest blogging posts about creative writing over at the Creative Learners Blog. The post is on The Fundamentals of Writing. Take a look!

Category: book review, homeschooling Tags: Arts, Author, book, Children's, Humour, Jim Baumgardner, Literature, Sarah's Wish, Teen lit, Writers Resources, Writing Comments off

Jun

Homeschooling Reviews and Blogs

quinnschilling

Image via Wikipedia

Hi everyone! I wanted to share that although I am enjoying some lazy days by the pool and reading some plain old fun fiction (for no review purposes at all), many people have been working hard to get ready for the upcoming TOS Crew year!

This year, we will officially start the cruise in late July. And, I am proud to be a returning member of the TOS Crew for 2010-2011. In fact, this year I’m a First Mate! I really enjoyed the crew last year. I got to explore some fantastic homeschooling resources and also make many wonderful blog friends.

I really learned a ton about what resources are available to homeschoolers…and frankly, all the resources that are available to any parent. With the crew, I was able to review items such as online math programs, children’s fiction books, videos to help teenagers get extra credits for college by taking the CLEP exams…even online piano lessons.

Anyway, I am very excited to do this again and also, to know a bit more about what I am doing:) Please leave me a comment if you have any items you would be curious to see reviewed or have other homeschooling questions.

Also, as part of the TOS Crew community, I will be trying to participate in two other memes/activities that will shine a light on many Homeschool questions and issues. The first is the TOS Crew Blog Cruise, so when you see this button:

Please know that you can click on it to go to some great Homeschoolers opinions and ideas–each week, a new homeschool topic will be addressed by many different bloggers…so you will get all kinds of perspectives.

For another way to share our homeschooling knowledge, crew members are doing a Blog Walk of all the TOS Crew blogs. Each week, I will be visiting 10 homeschooling blogs. Please join along and make some new blog friends!

Here’s the Blog Walk List for this week:

1. Second Star to the Right and Straight On Till Morning
2. Surviving The Testosterone
3. Family Style School
4. School Around The Bible
5. 1628 The Story of The Goebels 5
6. Morris Family Madness
7. Homeschool Musings
8. Homeschooling (and then some!)
9. Heartfelt Homeschooling
10. following Him home

Category: TOS Crew Review, book review, curriculum, giveaways, homeschooling Tags: curriculum, education, homeschool blogs, homeschooling, homeschooling lifestyle, learning, Parenting tips, review of homeschool materials, teaching, The OldSchoolhouse, TOS Blog Cruise, TOS Crew 2 Comments

Jun

They Almost Always Come Home

quinnschilling

Fantastic!

Yesterday, I told you about a great new book. Today I would like to share a bit more. Don’t forget to leave a comment to be entered to win the giveaway!

Here is an interview with the brand new author, Cynthia Rushti:

1. How would you describe your book?

The tagline for the book is “She’d leave her husband…if she could find him.”

When Libby’s husband Greg doesn’t return from a two-week canoe trip to the Canadian wilderness, the authorities write off his disappearance as an unhappy husband’s escape from an oatmeal marriage and mind-numbing career. Their marriage might have survived if their daughter Lacey hadn’t died and if Greg hadn’t been responsible. Libby enlists the aid of her wilderness-savvy father-in-law and her faith-walking best friend to help her search for clues to her husband’s disappearance. What the trio discovers in the wilderness search upends Libby’s assumptions about her husband and rearranges her faith.

It’s my prayer that this fictional adventure story and emotional journey will reveal its own hope-laden clues for those struggling to survive or longing to exit what they believe are uninspiring marriages. How can a woman survive a season or a lifetime when she finds it difficult to like the man she loves?

2. How were you different as a writer and as a person when you finished writing They Almost Always Come Home?

This book changed me in a profound way. It forced me to take a more honest look at myself and my reactions to crises so I could write Libby’s character with authenticity. Libby is a composite of many women. I haven’t experienced what she did, but I identify with some of her struggles and longings, as I hope my readers will. I see my friends in her eyes and know that her tears aren’t hers alone. Her shining moments feed my courage. Libby speaks for me and for many others when she discovers that she is stronger than she realized and weaker than she wanted to admit.

Writing her story was a journey for the author as much as for the character.

3. What did you feel the tug on your heart to become a writer?

My journey toward a lifetime of writing began by reading books that stirred me, changed me, convinced me that imagination is a gift from an imaginative Creator. As a child, I read when I should have been sleeping…and still do. I couldn’t wait for the BookMobile (library on wheels) to pull up in front of the post office in our small town and open its arms to me. Somewhere between the pages of a book, my heart warmed to the idea that one day I too might tell stories that made readers stay up past their bedtimes.

4. What books line your bookshelves?

My bookshelves—don’t ask how many!—hold a wide variety of genres. The collection expands faster than a good yeast dough. I’m a mood reader, grabbing a light comedy one day and a literarily rich work the next. Although I appreciate well-written nonfiction, I gravitate toward an emotionally engaging contemporary women’s fiction story.

Leave a Comment to be chosen to Enter the Book Tour Giveaway! The winner will be drawn by Kathy Carlton Willis Communications.

North Pak 20 inch cinch sack (lime)
Day Runner journal
Canoe Brand wild rice
Canada’s brand blueberry jam
Coleman 60-piece mini first aid kit
Wood canoe/paddle shelf ornament
Six original photography notecards from video trailer
“Hope” hanging ornament
Mini Coleman “lantern” prayer reminder